Vent: I used to think you had to run the cutter head at full tilt all the time.

For the first 8 years on the Ohio River, I ran my cutter at max RPM on every bottom type. A guy from a Great Lakes outfit told me to drop it to 75% in heavy clay. I tried it on a job near Louisville last month. The machine shook less, we saved 15% on fuel, and the production numbers barely dipped. Now I adjust the speed based on the bucket sample. Anyone else find a sweet spot by slowing things down?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo_mason22d ago

Man, that's such a good point! It's like how I used to blast my lawnmower on the highest setting, thinking faster was always better. I just tore up the grass in the thin spots. Now I slow it down for those areas and the yard looks way better. It's all about matching the tool's speed to the actual job in front of you, not just using max power by default. Your cutter story is the perfect example of that.

grace_perry4422d ago

So you're basically matching the cutter speed to the bucket sample now? What's your go-to tell, like what specific thing in the sample makes you decide to dial it back?